It's like a rabbit Haiti

Hundreds of rabbits hit as roof caves in
This winter has been much worse than usual for Sweden.  This past weekend we had a snowstorm that pretty much gridlocked Stockholm...the infrastructure minister described it (and Sweden's response to it) as a "catastrophe."  Being a Minnesotan, I've been relatively unfazed by the weather and enjoy scoffing at people's horrified response to the cold.
Sadly, though, sometimes people get hurt by the unexpected amount of snowfall.  Like the hundreds of little furry people who were attending the Nyköping rabbit show in Stockholm when the roof collapsed.  But I'm sure Alicia Keys and Jay-Z will sing in a benefit concert for this tragedy as well.
It's also possible, given the Swedish government's tendencies toward rabbits, that this is a massive government conspiracy to secure an additional source for their rabbit-fueled heating plant (mentioned in an earlier post).  Consider these facts: 
  1) This winter is colder than usual.
  2) Stockholm uses frozen rabbits as biofuel to generate heat.
  3) Collapse happens late at night, when all the humans are away from the building at a "dance event" in another building.
  4) Police still have not fully established the cause of the collapse.
  5) Lars Ahlgren, rescue coordinator/alleged conspirator, stated, "We're not going to attempt to rescue the rabbits under the collapse".
  6) This is the largest single gathering of rabbits in Sweden, with well over 1500 in attendance.
Coincidence?  Conspiracy theorists, get on it!

In other bunny news, King Gustav finished his litter training quicker than I had hoped and so has had free run of my room for about a week and a half now.  He likes to jump on my bed and climb on me while I'm trying to fall asleep.  Unfortunately, he decided that the window sill is a more appropriate throne location and figured out how to jump up there from my bed.  I pushed him down a couple times, but last night he staged a covert mission to secure the upper ground.  Last week I got a basil plant so I could give him an occasional delicious treat.  During his midnight mission, he discovered the basil plant on the window sill.  Now I have an empty pot and a rabbit who could star in a Pepto-Bismal commercial.

An example of terrible legal drafting:

Here's a paragraph from the pivotal European Court of Justice opinion Case C-212/04 Adeneler [2004] ECR I-06057:

123. It follows that, from the date upon which a directive has entered into force, the courts of the Member States must refrain as far as possible from interpreting domestic law in a manner which might seriously compromise, after the period for transposition has expired, attainment of the objective pursued by that directive.

We've spent around 30 minutes debating what this means, with the result that we now realize it's even more open to multiple interpretations than we originally thought.

I submit that any sentence that takes that much analysis to understand is poor drafting.  A sentence that can handle that much analysis and still not communicate what the author was trying to say is terrible.

On the other (more cynical) hand, it's a nice statement for the Court to cite in future cases...it provides strong support for both sides of the argument.

As promised, more bunny pictures

I am the king of my castle.

I demand a pillow and a servant to feed me grapes.

You may think that I'm resting, but I have my eye on you.

I think I may name him King Gustav, or Gus for short.

I have a new pet rabbit

Sweden burns bunnies for biofuel
Apparently, Sweden has an overabundance of rabbits in the parks in Stockholm.  I thought about getting a train ticket to Stockholm to catch a rabbit for free, but instead I decided to just buy one.  I found someone a little outside Uppsala with several for sale, so yesterday I took a bus out of the city, walked a couple kilometers to their farm, and perused their selection.  I settled on Moomin (named after this comic strip character) (decision on whether to keep the name is still pending), a 6-month-old male lop.  He went into a box, I walked the 2 kilometers back to the bus stop, and returned to my room.  A couple hours, a trip to the recycle station, and some work with a pair of scissors and some duct tape later and I had a barely respectable enclosure for him.
I decided to move my mattress on to the floor and leave the pen open for him overnight so he could explore and start getting used to me.  Big mistake.  I woke up to find that he had wet the bed.  He actually hopped onto the mattress with me while I was asleep and let loose.  So today his litter training began.  He's starting to get the hang of it already, but it'll be a little while till I leave him out overnight.
He's a jumper.  He loves to jump up on his box, then jump down, then back up, then down, then up again.  I had to put up a barrier to keep him from jumping onto my desk.  I also reinforced his jumping box so it would hold up to the repeated impact.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with him.  More pictures soon.

I caught a duck! Also I'm the new bar master of Västgöta Nation.

Yesterday was my best day since arriving in Uppsala.
First of all, I fed some ducks.  I've been meaning to feed the ducks for a while, and kept forgetting.  Finally yesterday I remembered to put 2 bags of bread in my coat pockets.
I went to the duck pond.  As soon as I started unwrapping the bread the ducks started heading over.  The ducks here are pretty bold...I had them eating directly out of my hand within a couple minutes.
Then I grabbed a duck.  You know how, as a kid, you would chase after birds in the park and never catch them?  Well, I caught one.  I never expected to actually catch a duck.  Now what?  I wanted to scratch it behind the ears, but where are the ears on a duck?  Nobody knows (I asked a biologist.  She claimed she didn't know because she was a molecular biologist.  But ducks are made of molecules, right?)
I ended up walking around for a little bit holding it in my outstretched hands while it kicked and squawked and pecked at me, then I let it go.  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Second, yesterday was the initiation day for Västgöta Nation.  This requires a brief side-journey to explain the "nation" concept at Uppsala.
Around 350 years ago, the students at Uppsala decided to join together in groups based on what area of Sweden they were from.  At first the University didn't like the idea, and banned the practice.  Then the University changed its mind and REQUIRED all students to join a group based on their geographic location.  Those groups were called nations, and they fulfill the role of residence hall, dining hall, student organizations, intramural sports, fraternity/sorority life, student government, etc.
The 13 nations vary drastically in size, from a few hundred members to several thousand.  They have pubs and/or bars, restaurants, theatre troupes, choirs, and sports teams.  They host movie nights, dance clubs, concerts, and parties.  The work for the nations is done primarily by members and on a largely volunteer basis.  Workers may get paid 150 SEK (~$20) for a 6 or 8 hour shift, but they also get a free meal.  It's not great money, but it's a way to do something worthwhile with friends while still earning a little spending money.
Because the nations have been around basically since the beginning, all student programming is done through them.  Although the nations started a student union a couple hundred years ago to perform functions for all students (like petitioning the government for more money), as far as I can tell, all actual programming is done by the Nations.
Just like it was over 300 years ago, all students are required to join a nation.  However, you are no longer limited to the nation from where you live.  Now you choose the nation that is the best fit for you or that you like the most.  Once joining a nation, you are issued a "nation card" that allows entrance to any of the nations.  The only difference is that you don't have to pay admission to events that your nation hosts, while members of other nations may be required to pay 50 or 100 SEK to get in to that hoppin' dance club.

OK, so that's the nation concept.  I wanted to join a smaller nation where I could get to know the members a little better and have a more personal experience.  I ended up joining Västgöta Nation, which is the oldest nation.  It was started in 1639 and the building where they reside was built in 1666.  (Västgöta Nation is older than the United States.  That's pretty awesome.) Their pub is in the cellar, which actually dates back to the 1400's.  It's pretty thrilling to sit and drink a beer in a cellar that was built before they knew about America.  They are also located right on the river, so it's close to go feed the ducks.
I should also probably mention that I volunteered for (and was selected to be) the Bar Master for the semester.  I'm not the bartender, I'm the one who organizes the bartenders, orders and stocks the alcohol, decides on drink specials, etc.


Yesterday was Reccemottagning, which is the initiation event.  It started with some speeches by the leaders of the Nation, including the faculty advisor.  Then we broke up into small groups and went around to different stations for each of the different aspects of the Nation (short scavenger hunt with the sports club, movie charades with the theater group, drinking beer with the pub master, doing shots with the bar master, etc.)  Finally, the evening was capped off with a formal 2-course dinner with entertainment by the mixed choir, the men's choir (who for some reason were carring around a headless baby doll and a cow skull), more speeches, etc.  There was lots of drinking and singing, and most of what was happening was in Swedish. (quick side note: the Swedish people are very quiet and reserved, until they start drinking.  Then they become outgoing, talkative, and friendly.  As a result, essentially all social events in Sweden involve drinking alcohol.  (And yes, it extends to non-college events as well.))
Anyway, fantastic cultural experience.  I met a ton of new people and the Swedish people think it's just as hilarious that my name is Law and I study law as people in America think it is.

My Swedish language class doesn't start for another 2 weeks

I have a few things to say about that:

1) That makes no sense at all.  I mean really?  The classes don't start until a month after people arrive?  What am I supposed to do in the meantime?

2) I'll tell you what I'm doing in the meantime: failing.  Right now I'm eating a frozen pie, because I can't read the directions to tell if I'm supposed to cook it first.

3) I guess it shows the faith that the University has in the Swedish people's ability to speak English.

4) But what about when I want to eat a delicious cake and there are no Swedish people around to translate the directions?

5) I'd come up with more things to say, but I'm going to go make a sandwich instead.  I can do that in English.

2 Swedish stereotypes that seem TOO Swedish to be real (but they are)

1) They love fish so much, they actually have fish burgers.  Not fish sandwiches, like a filet o' fish.  Actual round patties.  I wish I could elaborate, but I hate seafood, so I can't.
2) Everyone shops at Ikea.  Today I was doing laundry, and everyone was carrying their laundry in a blue Ikea bag.  Seriously, there were at least 10 people, and every single one there was using those bags.  I brought a laundry bag with me to Sweden, but the handle broke so even I was using an Ikea bag.

Shamelessly exploiting my heritage for cheap conversation fodder

I've decided to embrace my Americanism, at least in terms of ownership of my American eating habits.  It turns out, Europeans LOVE to make fun of Americans' unhealthy eating habits.  This is fantastic; I also love to make fun of Americans' unhealthy eating habits, but at the same time I probably have more unhealthy eating habits then 98% of Americans.  Most people go to McDonald's for their fried food.  Not me...I had a deep fryer in my kitchen.  Many Americans have heard of deep fried Twinkies; I've served them as a Super Bowl snack.  I've eaten deep-fried bacon on a stick.  I've hosted fryin' parties.  It's like a fondue party, but with a deep fryer, a platter of various foods, and a big bowl of beer batter.

::Quick side note about deep fried food::
Successes:                                   Failures:
- Twinkies*                                    - Strawberries*
- Candy Bars*                               - Cookie Dough
- Cookie Dough*                           - Peeps*
- Rolos*                                         - Noodles
- Cheese Curds*
- Pizza*
- Ice Cream
- Swiss Cake Rolls*                  Note: *indicates battered
- Hot dogs
- Hamburgers
::End side note::

When I heat up soup, I add a couple tablespoons of oil, partly for the flavor but mainly for the calories.  I ask for the nutrition information sheet at McDonald's so I can avoid the healthy choices (and then I get my fries well-done.  They test better when they have more time to absorb more of that delicious frying oil.  Also, I eschew the ketchup in favor of mayo.)  I have bowls of candy strategically placed around my apartments so I am never more than 3 steps away from a handful of sweet, sweet nirvana.
I actively avoid any diet or 'lite' food.

::Side note 2: My philosophy on diet food::
A diet product is never as good as the original.  If it was, it would BE the original, and they would change something else to make a diet version.
::End side note 2::

So I have an enormous pool of personal experience to draw upon in talking about how unhealthy Americans are.  Am I reinforcing a stereotype?  Absolutely.  Am I distorting peoples' perceptions of the eating habits of Americans?  Most likely.  Will I have a fun time doing it?  You better believe it.